Low Visibility And Standing Trees At The Bottom Of Folsom Lake In California Hampered The Search

The search for the wreckage of an airplane and three of its occupants that went down in 1965 in Folsom Lake in California has been suspended.

The search began last week, when drought conditions led to much shallower water than normal in the lake. A special search team was brought in to use towed side-scan sonar and other state-of-the-art underwater search equipment in an effort to locate the wreckage of the Piper Comanche that was involved in a mid-air collision during a sightseeing flight over the lake in 1965. All four people on board the aircraft were fatally injured, but only one body was ever recovered.

The search was called off Monday. In a statement, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office said "Although some interesting areas were identified, none of the captured images could be confirmed to actually hold signs of the crash and no divers were sent into the water by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office due to the sites being inaccessible at this time. The lake has zero visibility and very heavy concentrations of silt. It also contains numerous dangerous underwater obstructions such as standing 50- to 60-foot-tall oak trees."

The Sheriff's Office said that the relatives of those involved in the accident were in agreement with the decision to call off the search.

County authorities say no further search operations are planned.

(Piper Comanche pictured in file photo. Not accident airplane)

FMI: http://www.edcgov.us/Sheriff